Emanuel spears



'UNrrnin STATES PATENT Grmcn.

EMANUEL SPEARS, OF LA FAYETTE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHTTO CHRISTIAN SGHEREB, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT lN TONGUESUPPORTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. l6l,?13, dated April 6,1875; application filed March 4, 1875.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMANUEL SPEARS, of La Fayette, in the county ofTippecanoe and State of Indiana, have invented an Improvement inTongue-Supports, of which the following is a specification:

My invention consists in combining with the tongues or shafts of aWagon, capable of swinging up and down on a horizontal axis, certaindevices, by means of which the tongues or shafts may be supported in anelevated position when the Wagon is not in use, and which may also be so,adapted as to provide either a loose or a stiff tongue or shafts, ascircumstances may require.

These devices consist in a curved arm, rigidly secured to the shafts ortongue near the pivoted end, and a hanger depending from the hounds ofthe wagon, if such are used, and connected by braces to the front axleof the wagon, the curved portion of the arm which plays through a slotin the hanger having a series of holes, so that it may be xed by a bolt,or its play limited, according as a loose or a stitf tongue is Wanted.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is a 1ongitudinal sectional elevationof the front end 0f a Wagon embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is a bottomview thereof.

The same letters of reference are used in all the figures in thedesignation of identical parts.

I have shown my invention, in connection with a wagon having a tongue,A, pivoted by a bolt, a, to the hounds B, projecting from the front axleC. D is a bar of metal rmly secured at one end of the tongue A, andcurved at the other in the arc of a circle, having the axis of the pivota for its center, and reaching just beyond the rear end of the tongue.The

curved end of the bar D has a number of holes, d, and plays in a slot ofa hanger, E, suspended from the hounds B, to which it is rmly secured.At the point of the slot the hanger has a hole bored through it, whichis in line, with the holes d in the bar D. By passing a pin, F, throughthe hole in the hanger, and one of the holes in the bar D, the tonguecan be held rigidly at any desired elevation, either to be used as astiff tongue or be thrown up out of the way when the wagon is not inuse.

When it is desired to use the tongue as a loose one, the pin F isWithdrawn from the han ger, and passed through a hole in the bar D infront of the hanger, which, while permitting the tongue to rise to anyelevation, will sustain it like a stiff one by the pin F coming incontact With the hanger.

In order to relieve the hounds from the strain of the weight of thetongue a forked brace, G, extends from the hanger E to the axle C, sothat the principal strain will be transferred from the hanger E throughthe brace to said axle.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The combination ofthe tongue A, curved 'and perforated bar D d, xedhanger E, and

pin F, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. rI he combination of the tongue A, bar D d, pin F, hanger E, brace G,and axle C, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof' I have si gned my name to this specification inthe presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

hi EMANUEL Xs srnans.

mark.

Witnesses:

J. S. BERRYHILL, A. ORTH BEHM,

